Sunday, August 25, 2013

Why do people rape?

The increase of rape cases in India has
shaken the conscience of every right thinking Indians. People were outraged
when in December 2012, a girl was gang raped and killed in Delhi. Again the
same horrific incident has recurred in Mumbai when a woman photojournalist was
gang raped. After the Delhi gang rape episode there were widespread protests
and there were demand for tougher rape laws. It is not that after the Delhi
episode there were no rape cases. The only thing is that when such horrendous
incidents occurs in metropolitan cities then it hogs the limelight and if it
happens in small cities and villages then it goes unnoticed. But why is it that
the rape cases have become so common in India. And in spite of stringent laws
and social ostracization of the rapists the situation is deteriorating. The
only solution which the government, the people & the media think - enact
more stringent laws. But sadly the fear
of punishment has not bore any results so far.

Aggravating
the disease of lust

Bhagavad – Gita 16.21 describes “Lust, anger
and greed as three gates which leads to hell”. Vidura once told Yudhisthira
that uncontrolled lust is one of the main
reasons as why people commit crimes. But unfortunately the present day society
is trying its best to aggravate the disease of lust. Obscenity has become so
common – in movies, TV serials, advertisements, billboards, movie songs etc. Some
of the leading newspapers and magazines are stuffed with semi - nude pictures of
women as it helps to increase circulation. Internet and mobile pornography is
at its peak.Even in IPL, semi clad cheerleaders
were brought in to entice the audience. Women are portrayed as an object meant
for gratifying the senses. Today the
only cheapest commodity available in India is condoms; it is even cheaper than
the food grains. “You can have unlimited sex with unlimited partners but just
use condoms”.If we promote, propagate
and advertise lustful tendencies so rampantly then how can we expect that the
incidents of rape do not occur?

Campaign
against lust addiction

If we seriously want that these horrific incidents
do not get repeated then there should be laws to check vulgarity and obscenity.
As we campaign against drug addiction similarly we should campaign against lust
addiction.Sadly today’s educational
institution do not teach pupil to control their lusty propensities. In schools and colleges emphasis should be
given to impart ethical values to students. Rape crimes can be curbed only by instilling
values and by providing spiritual knowledge to each and every individual. We should
imbibe the teachings of India’s timeless Vedic literatures. These priceless literatures
have always taught people to rise above bodily conception of life and look women
not as an object of lust but as a soul who are parts and parcel of God. Srila
Prabhupada one of the foremost saints of the
modern era explains in “Bhagavad Gita As It Is” 4.1
purport “The kings of all planets are especially meant for the protection of
the inhabitants, and therefore the royal order should understand the science of
Bhagavad-gita in order to be able to rule the citizens and protect them from
material bondage to lust.”

Best
solution to stop rape crimes

Making stringent laws and punishing the
rapists may help us to a certain extent but it won’t be able to eliminate rape
crimes. Srila Prabhupada provides a very
logical solution to all these problems, “The only way to permanently change the
criminal habit is to change the heart of the criminal. As you well know, many
thieves are arrested numerous times and put into jail. Although they know that
if they commit theft they will go to jail, still they are forced to steal,
because of their unclean hearts. Therefore without cleansing the heart of the
criminal, you cannot stop crime simply by more stringent law enforcement. The
thief and the murderer already know the law, yet they still commit violent
crimes, due to their unclean hearts.”

If we are really sincere about
eradicating the menace of rape from the society then we will have to go back to
our roots.Vedas are our roots. Vedic literatures
like Bhagavad – Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, Upanisads etc teaches us to lead a God
– centered life. In a God – centered society, a person cultivates genuine love
for God which cleanses his heart of lusty desires.People then do not just identify each others
as men and women but understands that both men and women are children of God.
And so a natural and genuine respect develops for each other. In such a society
the horrific incidents of rape would never occur.